FYI: Any blue
text is a link. Click to check it out!
May
1, 2019 Week: 18 \ Day: 121
86004: H 58°
\ L 35° \ Average
Sky Cover: 5%
Nearest
wildfire: 682mi. Nearest lightning: 440mi
Wind: 7mph\Gusts:
13mph Visibility: 10 mi
Record
High:
80°[1947] Record
Low: 17°[1972]
Mar
Averages:
68°\34° (3 days with rain)
Today’s Quote
People seldom refuse help,
if one offers it in the right way.
A. C. Benson
Random Tidbits
Hansen Gregory, an American ship
captain, is the man credited with inventing the classic hole-in-the-middle
shape of the modern doughnut in 1847 by simply punching out the middle. Other
versions of the story describe Gregory piercing the middle of the doughnut on
the ship's steering wheel so he could use both hands to steer.
In 1963 when President John F. Kennedy
announced in Berlin, "Ich bin ein Berliner," he did not say, as is
commonly believed, that he was a jelly doughnut. While there was a popular jelly
donut called a 'Berliner', the phrase Kennedy used would not only have been
understood by the German audience, but it is probably the best way to express
what the president had intended to say. To state, "Ich bin Berliner"
would imply that he was born in Berlin, whereas the word 'ein' implied he was a
Berliner in spirit.
More Observances This Month
ALS Awareness Month Link
(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease)
American Wetlands Month Link
APS Awareness Month Link
Arthritis Awareness Month
Aramanth Month Link
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asthma Awareness Month
Awareness of Medical Orphans Month
(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease)
American Wetlands Month Link
APS Awareness Month Link
Arthritis Awareness Month
Aramanth Month Link
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asthma Awareness Month
Awareness of Medical Orphans Month
Better Hearing & Speech
Month Link
Bladder Cancer Awareness Month Link
Borderline Personality Disorder Month Link
Brain Tumor Awareness Month Link
Building Safety Month Link Link
Bladder Cancer Awareness Month Link
Borderline Personality Disorder Month Link
Brain Tumor Awareness Month Link
Building Safety Month Link Link
Observances This Week
National Infant
Immunization Week (NIIW): thru 5/4 Link
Air Quality Awareness Week: thru 5/3 Link
International Coaching Week: thru 5/5 Link
Screen-Free Week (Digital Detox Week) : thru 5/5 Link
Air Quality Awareness Week: thru 5/3 Link
International Coaching Week: thru 5/5 Link
Screen-Free Week (Digital Detox Week) : thru 5/5 Link
Observances for Today
Batman
Day
Beltane Link
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
Executive Coaching Day
Global Love Day Link
Hug Your Cat Day
International Workers Day Link
Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day
Law Day
Lei Day
Loyalty Day
May Day
May One Day
Mother Goose Day Link
National Bubba Day
National Chocolate Parfait Day
Beltane Link
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
Executive Coaching Day
Global Love Day Link
Hug Your Cat Day
International Workers Day Link
Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day
Law Day
Lei Day
Loyalty Day
May Day
May One Day
Mother Goose Day Link
National Bubba Day
National Chocolate Parfait Day
National
Golf Day Link
National Purebred Dog Day Link
National Skilled Trades Day Link
New Homeowner's Day
Save the Rhino Day
National Purebred Dog Day Link
National Skilled Trades Day Link
New Homeowner's Day
Save the Rhino Day
My Rambling Thoughts
Spring must have really arrived, the
HOA grounds keepers are out in force, mowing weeds, blowing away pine needles.
There’s lots of pollen in the air and now dust…but I ain’t complaining…it makes
the area look so much more welcoming.
Remember when May Day was a big deal
with May Day baskets, running around May poles, and happy kids? That all ended
very abruptly during the Cold War, when the USSR used May Day as the day to
have parades of their military might. I guess kids having fun and dancing and
giving away candy or flower baskets was not the image the US wanted.
I guess I haven’t been paying
attention to the crisis in Venezuela. I knew they were having a leadership
problem. Today I leaned that both Russia and Cuba are backing the one leader
and the US is backing another. Guess I better catch up. Their runaway inflation
means that 50 Bolivar dollars is worth about 50cents in USD. By the end of May
they won’t even be printing anything smaller than 100 Bolivars. The current
demonstrations are becoming quite violent.
I saw in interesting story on the
news. There is a drug that helps people, especially kids, with epilepsy. In
1992 a vial of the medicine cost $39. Another pharmaceutical company bought it
and it now costs $39,000 for a vial. What a shameful thing.
PUZZLE OF THE DAY
Answer
at the bottom of this page
An
evil warden holds you as a prisoner but offers you a chance to escape. There
are 3 doors A, B, and C. Two of the doors lead to freedom and the third door
leads to lifetime imprisonment, but you do not which door is what type. You are
allowed to point to a door and ask the warden a single yes-no question. If you
point to a door that leads to freedom, the warden does answer your question
truthfully. But if you point to the door that leads to imprisonment, the warden
answers your question randomly, saying either “YES” or “NO” by chance. Can you
figure out a way to escape the prison?
Today’s Significant Historical Events
1700’s
1704
Boston Newsletter publishes 1st newspaper advertisement
1753
Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of
plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
1795
Kamehameha, King of Hawaiʻi defeats Kalanikupule and conquors island of Oʻahu
at Battle of Nuʻuanu (approx. date)
1800’s
1867
Howard University chartered
1883
Amsterdam World's Fair opens
1884
Construction begins on Chicago's 1st skyscraper (10 stories)
1900’s
1908
World's most intense shower (2.47" in 3 minutes) at Portobelo, Panama
1927
1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways)
1928
Lei Day begun (a Hawaiian celebration)
1931
Empire State Building opens in New York City
1937
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act, banning travel on
belligerent ships and imposes an arms embargo on warring nations
1939
Pulitzer Prize awarded to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Yearling)
1941
General Mills introduces CheeriOats (renamed Cheerios in 1945) an oat-based,
ready-to-eat cold cereal
1943
Food rationing begins in the United States during World War II
1952
Mr Potato Head introduced
1959
West Germany introduces 5 day work week
1961
Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee for her novel "To Kill a
Mockingbird"
1963
1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest
1980
Amer Book Award: William Styron (Sophie Choice)/T Wolfe (Right Stuff)
1986
Russian news agency Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap
1989
Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins: US Supreme Court rules employers have legal burden
to prove non- discriminatory reasons for not hiring or promoting
1997
Tony Blair elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2000’s
2003
In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, U.S.
President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq
have ended" on board the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California
2007
Christopher Hitchens publishes his bestseller "God is not Great"
making a case against organized religion
2010
Car bomb fails to go off in Times Square, New York City
2014
Hundreds march through Nigerian capital calling for the release of schoolgirls
abducted by Islamic militants, Boko Haram, who oppose Western education
2018
Scotland is the first country in the world to introduce a minimum price on
alcohol
Birthdays Today
0’s
1738
Kamehameha I,
(d. 1819: @82±)
King
of Hawaii (1782-1819),
born
in Kohala, Hawaii
1831
Emily Stowe,
(d. 1903: @71)
Canadian
physician and suffragist
1837
Mother (Mary Harris) Jones,
(d.
1930: @93)
US reformer and labor organizer
1852
Calamity Jane
[Martha
Jane Canary],
(d. 1903: @51: pneumonia)
American
frontierswoman,
born
in Princeton, Missouri
1913
Louis Nye,
(d.
2005: @92)
American
comedian and actor
(Curb
Your Enthusiasm, The Steve Allen Plymouth Show),
born
in Hartford, Connecticut
1918
Jack Paar,
(d.
2004: @85),
American
television host of the Jack Paar Show
born
in Canton, Ohio
1929
Sonny James,
[James
Loden],
(d.
2016: @87)
country
music singer-songwriter (Young Love), born in Hackelburg, Alabama
1939
Max Robinson,
(d.
1988: @49: AIDS)
1st
African American network TV anchor (ABC),
born
in Richmond, Virginia
<><><><>
80-
Judy Collins,
singer
(Send in the Clowns, Clouds),
born
in Seattle, Washington
74-
Rita Coolidge,
American
Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter
(Higher
& Higher, We're All Alone),
born
in Nashville, Tennessee
65-
Ray Parker Jr,
rock
guitarist/vocalist (Ghostbusters),
born
in Detroit, Michigan
52-
Tim McGraw, American musician and actor, born in Delhi, Louisiana
50-
Wes Anderson, American director and writer
Historical Obits Today
80’s
@84-2017
Stan Weston,
American
toy licensing agent, had concept for G.I. Joe
@83-1963
Lope K. Santos,
Filipino
writer and Father of the Philippine National Language and Grammar
@80-2015
Pete Brown,
American
golfer (first African-American to win on PGA Tour, Waco 1964)
70’s
@74-2000
Stephen "Steve" Reeves,
American
professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist (Hercules, Goliath,
Sandokan),
dies
from a blood clot
60’s
@62-1998
Eldridge Cleaver,
American
activist
@62-1904
Antonín Dvořák,
Czech
composer (Slavic Dancing, New World Symphony),
dies
from influenza
@60-1873
David Livingstone,
British
physician/explorer (Africa),
dies
of malaria
50’s
@53-1965
Spike Jones
[Lindley Armstrong Jones],
American
bandleader (Der Fueher's Face, Cocktails For Two),
dies
from emphysema
40’s
@47-1945
Joseph Goebbels,
German
Nazi Minister of Propaganda,
commits
suicide with his wife (43) and arranges the death of their 6 children, Heidrun
(4), Hedwig (6), Holdine (8), Helmut (9), Hildegard (11), and Helga (12)
Puzzle answer:
You
can point towards door A and ask whether door B leads to freedom. If the warden
says “YES”, then you open door B. It cannot lead to imprisonment because this
would mean that door A leads to freedom and the warden must have told you the
truth. If the warden says “NO”, then you open door C. This is because either
the warden lied, and then the imprisonment door is A, or he told you the truth,
and then the imprisonment door is B.